The Pirate Planet (TV story)
Synopsis
The tracer detects the second segment on the planet Calufrax. The TARDIS makes a bumpy landing, and the Doctor and Romana soon discover that they are not on Calufrax at all. They are in fact on Zanak, a planet that has been hollowed out and fitted with engines so that it can transmat through space and materialise around others - such as Calufrax - to plunder their mineral wealth, leaving them as shrunken husks held by gravitational forces in a 'trophy room'.
Ostensibly in charge is the Captain, whose body has been partially replaced with robotic parts following a near-fatal crash, but he is merely a puppet controlled by his nurse - a projection of Zanak's original ruler, the aged Queen Xanxia.
Xanxia is using time dams, powered by the forces generated in the trophy room, to keep her body alive until this new, younger form has stabilised. The Captain prepares Zanak to 'jump' again - this time with Earth as its target.
The Doctor attempts to thwart his plans, calling on the assistance of the Mentiads - a gestalt of telepaths amongst Zanak's indigenous population - to sabotage the engines.
The Captain rebels against the nurse, but she kills him. The nurse herself is then destroyed by one of the Zanak natives whom the Doctor, Romana and K9 have befriended.
The Doctor realises that the second segment comprises the whole of the planet Calufrax. He contrives to drop the compressed husks from the trophy room into a space-time vortex created by the TARDIS in the centre of Zanak, and is then able to pick up and convert the segment at his leisure.
Plot
to be added
Cast
- The Doctor - Tom Baker
- Romana I - Mary Tamm
- Voice of K9 - John Leeson
- Balaton - Ralph Michael
- Captain - Bruce Purchase
- Citizen - Clive Bennett
- Guard - Adam Kurakin
- Kimus - David Warwick
- Mentiad - Bernard Finch
- Mr. Fibuli - Andrew Robertson
- Mula - Primi Townsend
- Nurse - Rosalind Lloyd
- Pralix - David Sibley
- Queen Xanxia - Vi Delmar
Crew
- Assistant Floor Manager - Ruth Mayorcas
- Costumes - L Rowland Warne
- Designer - Jon Pusey
- Film Cameraman - Elmer Cossey
- Film Editor - John Dunstan
- Incidental Music - Dudley Simpson
- Make-Up - Janis Gould
- Producer - Graham Williams
- Production Assistant - Michael Owen Morris
- Production Unit Manager - John Nathan-Turner
- Script Editor - Anthony Read
- Special Sounds - Dick Mills
- Studio Lighting - Mike Jefferies
- Studio Sound - Mike Jones
- Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
- Title Music - Ron Grainer
- Visual Effects - Colin Mapson
References
- Romana was given an air car for her 70th birthday.
- Romana studied the life cycle of the Gallifreyan flutterwing.
- The Doctor has been operating TARDISes for 523 years.
- Oolion can only be found on Bandranginus Five and Qualactin.
- Earth is rich in PJX18 (Quartz).
- Calufrax (the planet) was the second piece of the Key to Time.
- The synchronic feedback circuit or the multi-loop stabiliser are both essential for a smooth rematerialisation of the TARDIS (according to Romana), the Doctor uses neither.
Planets
- Bandranginus Five
- Calufrax was rich in voolium and madranite one-five.
- Collactin
- Granados
- Qualactin
- Zanak
Story Notes
- This is Douglas Adams' first contribution to Doctor Who.
- Vi Delmar (who played the aged Queen Xanxia) demanded an extra fee before she would remove her false teeth for filming.
Ratings
- Part 1 - 9.1 million
- Part 2 - 7.4 million
- Part 3 - 8.2 million
- Part 4 - 8.4 million
Myths
to be added
Location Filming
- Dan-yr-Ogof caves in Powys, Wales.
Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors
to be added
Continuity
to be added
DVD, Video and Other Releases
to be added
Target Novelisations
to be added
See Also
External Links
- BBC Episode Guide for The Pirate Planet,
- Doctor Who Reference Guide detailed synopsis of The Pirate Planet
- The Invasion of Time entry at A Brief History of Time (Travel)
- Outpost Gallifrey entry for The Pirate Planet
